Presentation 1 : Invited
VLT-Planet Finder: drivers and requirements for very high image quality instrumentation (ASHRA)
D. Mouillet, J.-L. Beuzit, T. Fusco, A.-M. Lagrange, R. Soummer, L. Abe, P. Riaud
Strong astrophysical issues and a large potential performance enhancement motivate
the study for an instrument on ESO/VLT, dedicated to high dynamic observations
of bright objects. We identify the critical items of the performance budget for
such an instrument and translate them into a list of main instrumental issues:
system studies, devices specifications. This list is compared to the development
plan, over the past and coming years, for coronography and high angular
resolution in the French or international community.
Presentation 2 : Invited
Specifications for a near future ground-based Planet Finder
D. Mouillet, A.-M. Lagrange, C. Moutou, T. Guillot, F. Menard
A wide range of astrophysical issues may benefit from high dynamic observation
capabilities, from brown dwarfs detections to the most demanding direct detection
and spectral analysis of terrestrial planets, as a goal for the next decade space-based
instruments. We identify here some specifications for a dedicated ground-based
instrument on a 8-m ESO/VLT telescope in the coming years on the basis of the
astrophysical specific purposes and the technical feasibility.
We discuss the interest for such an instrument taking into account its expected impact
on exo-planets studies and other instruments available before 2010. We additionnally
mention other astrophysical topics that reinforce the motivation for this instrument.